Monday, September 29, 2014

L’shana Tova 2014

Rosh
Hashanah – the beginning of the Jewish New Year; I know that when we first
start the holiday and head towards services, the summer is REALLY over, this is
a time for introspection and a time to catch up with people that we have not
seen during the summer.Being an
optimist, I enjoy the fact that everyone spends the time to wish each other a
Happy and Healthy New Year or a Sweet Year.We do this, knowing that a week later, we spend a full day fasting and
asking forgiveness for the sins committed during the past year.

I
walked up to someone that I have not seen since last year, and asked him how he
is doing.“It is Rosh Hashanah and I am
in shul, so do you want to hear the truth.”While the appropriate answer is yes (even while thinking no), I answered
with the first response that came to mind.I leaned in conspiratorially,“You know, I always look at it this way; this is the beginning of a New
Year, where we can start over and have all of the hopes, expectation and dreams
of the New Year ahead of us.”He looked
at me; my answer had caught him off guard.After a moment, he responded, “That is a great way to look at it, I did
not think of that.”Sometimes, it is
merely the perspective through which we look at something that can determine
our opinions and outlook on our condition and futures.

Recently,
at a Toastmasters event, there was a portion of the night set aside for what we
call table topics.During this time, one
person asks short questions to the people participating that evening and then
picks someone out at random to answer the question.The purpose of this exercise is to learn the
skill of “thinking on one’s feet.”The
question was asked, “What was the most exciting thing that happened in your
life,” and she called upon a friend of mine.“The most exciting time in my life is right now.”He went on to say that he HAD exciting
points in his life, like when he married, the birth of his children, and all of
these events make up happy memories.But, he went on to say, right now, his future is wide open with all of
his dreams and goals ahead of him, not behind.That was what made “this moment” the most exciting for him.

It
is interesting how we ascribe certain times of the year to beginning points –
New Years (potential multiple New Years), springtime (awakening of nature), or our
birthdays.We even set artificial dates
to start working on goals – I will start on this after I finish that; or, when
this event occurs I can start working on that.We have built our lives on dates that mean little and that lead us to
become proficient procrastinator practitioners.And believe me, I am no different.So, here is to a New Year, one filled with all of our hopes and
expectations, new goals to strive for and old goals to keep reaching to
accomplish.Most importantly, a year
where we learn to leave our yesterdays in the past, not wait for tomorrow to
begin, and to take action today.